Executives at Washington’s public teachers union (the WEA) announced recently that gaining access to greater pay increases was their primary lobbying goal for 2014 — not raising student test scores, closing the achievement gap, or improving low graduation rates.
To support their message in Olympia, union executives say they have not received a state-funded cost-of-living-adjustment, or COLA, for six years. Some proponents argue this means teachers have either not received a pay increase or have received a cut, because pay has not gone up as much as they think it should have. By citing only one type of pay increase, though, the union gives the impression that teachers haven’t received any pay increases.
The good news is that teachers also receive compensation from local school districts, and regular, annual pay increases are built into the state’s compensation system. For example, since 2006 average teacher pay has increased by about $9,000, or more than 16 percent, even as many working families have lost jobs or experienced reduced hours.
Total average teacher pay, from state and local sources, is now almost $65,000 a year, plus benefits. A typical benefits package includes health coverage, dental, vision, life insurance, long-term disability, up to 12 days of sick leave, cash for unused leave and a generous public pension. In all, benefits add an average of $19,200 a year in compensation. Also, unions receive public funds to pay the salaries and benefits of their executives, even though labor unions are private entities.
